Work in progress in the Region on the new air territorial continuity. How (and if) the Sardinians will be able to fly to the Peninsula was explained by the regional councilor for Transport, Barbara Manca, during the hearing before the competent commission of the Regional Council. The new regime - if all goes well - will come into force when the current one expires (October 2025). The tender must be submitted by next April, "but we expect to be ready before then" said Manca. In the meantime, with the current system, it has emerged that between Cagliari and Milan, with Aeroitalia, there will be 220 fewer movements (flights, to be clear) in December alone (over 180 in November).
For the regime under study, "we are trying to reduce the weight of the economic offer and enhance the technical offer," said Manca. The executive representative began by explaining that "we must move from the minimum guaranteed service to the certainty of travel, especially when the need to do so arises at the last minute, for health or work reasons. Today, companies are incentivized to reduce prices, but we Sardinians are more interested in the quality of service than in savings. We must convince the European Union that our requests are not unrealistic and perfect the model of "social aid" without incurring observations from the EU. We aim to provide support to travellers and not improper incentives to companies. We will make an expression of interest and see who will adhere to our proposal for social aid."
Numerous interventions by the commissioners. Franco Mula (Alleanza Sardegna) expressed concern: «The Sardinians continue not to move and above all to return easily. What guarantees do we have on Aeroitalia which recently won the tender for continuity? Does it have an adequate fleet?». Emanuele Matta (Cinque stelle) asked for «investments in the airport system to make it attractive for low-cost airlines» and added that «there is a lack of information for citizens on the system of social assistance for flights». Sandro Porcu (Orizzonte Comune) asked to evaluate «the Balearic model as a new system of territorial continuity for Sardinia». While the PD and the Progressisti Gigi Piano and Francesco Agus asked the Council «what will happen from 2025 and what model of continuity the Todde executive intends to adopt, given that the current monopolistic system is out of date and does not meet the needs of the Sardinians».
